Nutrition Facts

You'll have this incredibly creamy (thanks to nonfat yogurt!), velvety-smooth tomato soup ready to serve in 30 minutes, start to finish. It's wonderful for dinner on a chilly autumn night. I love to serve it with these "un-croque monsieur" bites for an ultra-comforting but still slimming dinner.

Ingredients:

For tomato soup:

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, very finely minced

1 sprig sage or 2 teaspoons dried sage

1 sprig thyme or 2 teaspoons dried thyme

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 can (28 ounces) low-sodium diced tomatoes with juice

1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/4 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt, plus extra for serving

1 teaspoon sea salt

3 tablespoons finely chopped basil (optional)

For mini grilled cheese bites:

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon light mayonnaise

4 slices whole-wheat or whole-grain bread

6 ultra-thin slices Asiago, Gruyère, or cheddar cheese

6 slices lean deli chicken, ham, or turkey (optional)

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:

Directions

1. To make soup, heat canola oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, sage, and thyme. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is soft and fragrant, about 3 minutes.2. Stir in tomato paste and cook while stirring constantly until tomato paste darkens, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Add canned tomatoes and their juices and simmer, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened and reduced, about 7 minutes. Remove thyme sprigs and discard.3. Transfer mixture to a food processor and pulse to combine. Add chicken broth, almond milk, and yogurt, and process until completely smooth.4. Pour soup back into a clean pot and cook over medium heat until warm, about 5 minutes. Stir in sea salt. Serve with a dollop of yogurt and some chopped fresh basil, if using.5. To make grilled cheese bites, mix mustard and mayonnaise together in a small bowl and spread on 2 bread slices. Top with 2 slices cheese and 3 slices deli meat (if using), then cover with a final cheese slice. Place remaining bread slices on top.6. Heat olive oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add sandwiches and grill until browned, about 2 minutes. Flip over and brown on other side, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes longer (check often as second side usually browns more quickly than the first). Transfer sandwiches to a cutting board and let cool for 2 minutes before removing crusts with a serrated knife. Slice each sandwich lengthwise into 4 even fingers. Serve with soup.

*Nutrition facts based on one serving of soup and two grilled cheese bites.